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Bomber Command Chronicles
BCATP Chronicles



4 Bombing and Gunnery School Graduation Photos
A Poigant Example of Bomber Command's Loss Rate



Eighteen of the Twenty-Four were Killed -Only Three were 'OK'


This newspaper clipping from the August 16, 1941 issue of the Toronto Daily Star features the photos of twenty-four young airmen from the Toronto area who had just graduated as air-gunners or bomb-aimers from No. 4 Bombing & Gunnery School at Fingal, Ontario, one of eleven B&G schools in Canada. Their BCATP training complete, the graduates would soon be travelling to Halifax to board ships for England.

The clipping is taken from a photo album in the museum archives that belonged to F/O Arnold D. Smith, an RCAF pilot with 192 Squadron. He must have had some connection to this group as he carefully noted the fate of each one on their photo.

Even to those who are familiar with the loss-rates of the airmen who flew with Bomber Command, this newspaper clipping with the photos and F/O Smith's notations is shocking.

Note that of these twenty-four young airmen, one was drowned when the ship he was on was sunk by an enemy submarine, seventeen were killed on operations, one became a prisoner of war, and one, it appears, was sent home because he couldn't take the stress of operations anymore.

Of the twenty-four, only three were noted as 'OK' after their wartime service. Eighteen lost their lives and F/O Smith was unsure of the fate of another, although it appears that he survived the war.

75% of this group of young Canadian volunteers serving with Bomber Command were killed. Sadly, this was not unusual.







Bomber Command Museum of Canada